Things about America #2: Chewing Tobacco!
Have a look at this ad that I found in the latest issue of Portland's Willamette Week newspaper and boggle along with me:
Leaving aside the terrible clip art design, here's an ad that tries to do the impossible - make chewing tobacco sexy. Something I thought was the preserve of aging Major League baseballers and old Western movie stars is still alive and well, and what's more, is being marketed as the "cool" and "in" thing for the young and hip. Yes boys, find a girl you like and give her a kiss while your mouth is full of stinky black 'baccy. Sure to impress even the most choosy lass! I wonder if she'll be as impressed when your gums are diseased and your teeth have fallen out, as the big "Warning arrow" disclaimer so helpfully points out.
Big, big thumbs down here, both to the whole concept of chewing tobacco and this bizarre marketing of it. Yuk!
Posted in: chaosboy, united states, weirdness on August 31, 2007 at at 4:48:00 PM
Greetings,
I work in the field of tobacco policy and came across this post. Nice catch.
I wanted to make a couple of points. This product (snus) isn't really a chewing tobacco. It comes in a teabag like sack and the user doesn't spit. (Sounds disgusting, huh?)
Also, the ad you included in your post came under fire here in Ohio because of the "block O" in the background. Ohio State merchandise uses the same logo, and there was major concerns that the tobacco company was trying to infer a university tie-in. (Once this became a public issue, the ads were pulled.) Inasmuch as you live in Oregon, I wonder if that is an issue to consider there.